Released: The Next Step in the Immigrant's Journey

Thank you for supporting this fundraiser, organized by Tamara Caldes. 

Almost every weeknight, men and women step down from a bus traveling from Stewart Detention Center onto the pavement in front of  Groome Transportation in Columbus. They are free. Some are overwhelmed with emotion, while others are afraid of the uncertainty they face. They are often dehydrated, hungry, exhausted, and in need of clean clothes. They carry trauma from being detained for weeks or months at SDC, subsisting on inadequate food, being denied medical care, and not knowing the status of their asylum case. They carry trauma from their journey from their home country to this moment, which may have taken two years or more and included being taken into custody at the border, jailed, shackled, and flown to Georgia in what they describe as the worst, longest flight they could have imagined, in some cases bound by handcuffs so tight they feared loss of circulation. 

They may be from Brazil, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Cameroon, Bangladesh, or any other country. Some are teenagers who just turned 18. Many speak no English, have no phone and no money. What they all need immediately in this next step in their journey is support in getting home to their family or sponsor. 

El Refugio works in partnership with Paz Amigos in Columbus and Casa Alterna in Decatur to accompany people from Groome Transportation in Columbus to the airport or bus station that can get them home. We contact their relatives and figure out how the person should get home, whether they should take a bus or plane or, in rare cases, get picked up. We book the ticket, if the family needs us to do so. We pay for the ticket, if the family cannot do so. We take them to Casa Alterna for overnight lodging if necessary, or we put them up in a hotel. Once they reach their destination, we connect them with local resources. 

With your gift, you walk with people who have come to the United States seeking a better life. You stand with them at a time when they often feel alone, vulnerable, and scared. Immigration detention steals their dignity. With your gift, you give a little bit of that dignity back.